The power of Sridevi. Review on Shaakti

Shakti is Sridevi's maiden attempt at film production ..... the verdict ........ Yesssss...... very impressive. I always thought that Sridevi was a very good actress, if not great. But what I liked about her was the way she conducted herself. We rarely heard about her name in any contreversy, except for the marriage part, and she gracefully retired from films before being rejected. And now she tries her hand at film production with a winner.

The Movie:- Shakti is a story of Nandani(Karishma Kapoor) who lives in Toronto, Canada with her deceased fathers friends. She marries Sanjay Kapoor, her long time buddy and has a cute son. Life is a sweet dream for her until she comes to know that her beau has a past. His parents live in a small vilage in Bihar, a state where law is strong only on paper. Sanjay learns about an attack on his family by his ancesteral rivals and rushes back home with his wife and kid worrying about his mother who has been injured. And then starts a culture shock for Karishma.... A village ruled by gun culture..... A family where revenge is a pride and a duty supposed to be carried out by generations, A father in law (Nana Patekar), out to display his Male chauvinism at every given opportunity and a consolation, an understanding Mother in law (Deepti Naval), Sanjay Kapoors sister (Unknown Actress) etc etc. On the way to their village, they are attacked by their rival uncles and one of them, Vijay Naaz (Monsoon Wedding fame) dies in the act of revenge later.

Stunned by all this, Karishma & Sanjay decide to go back to Canada. Predictably, Sanjay Kapoor is killed in an attack which leaves Karishma shattered. To add to her woes, Nana Patekar now wants the only heir of their family, Sanjay & Karishma's son, to live with them and carry the tradition of mindless voilence and revenge. What follows is a series of foiled attemts to escape by Karishma. And then when you start beleiving that Hindi Cinema has come of age and an Indian woman can bring an intresting climax on her own, you are proved wrong with Shahrukh Khan entering to do the needful. End ... Karishma escapes with the help from Shahrukh and when shes about to board the plane, she is again conforted by Nana Patekar, who thanks to an emotional outburst from Deepti Naval, allows Karishma and her son to leave. This movie was a remake of a telegu hit, directed by Krishna Vamsi, who has also directed this version. The script is tight with superb camera work, powerful screenplay. But the most striking feature of the movie is the characterisation for each and every character which is very well defined, something that is missing in most of the movies made these days and was last seen in ''Encounter, the killing''. Music is good with chartbuster Ishq Kamina with Aishwarya Rai in Guest Appeearance.

Performance:- Karishma:- is brilliant ..... pleasing performance which will win her new fans and win accolades amongst the old ones.

Nana Patekar:- is Nana Patekar .. powerful, flawless and someone who makes you beleive that no other actor would have been able to do justice to this role.

Shahrukh Khan:- I personally think he was unnecessarily adde to this film. Overacts a bit and tries to fit in the hype he has created... but nevertheless, convincing if not superb.

BREAKING NEWS:- Sanjay Kapoor CAN act ... yesss he can act and that too, very well .......... I hope this performance gets him better roles with more content, something which he has been missing always.

Deepti Naval;- brings a smile and does her part effortlessly. No wonder you are immedately reminded what a good actress she has been in her previous movies.

Vijay Naaz;- A very short role .. but man, watch out for this guy. He talks with his eys .. awesome.

The Child Star:- I dunno what his name is .. but a cute child and does evoke sympathy without any overacting ..(hes toooooo small for that though)

Okie, the movie is not flawless. The degree of brutility shown in the movie gets painful and horryfying at times, but you never know what goes on in the remote villages of Bihar which we all know is ruled by the Gun. Sahrukh is a brilliant actor, but has been wasted and it would have been more satisfying to see Karishma escaping on her own. Director does a very commendable job and hope to see more from him in future. In all, a gripping thriller which does lose its grip at times, but keeps you glued to your seat.